Jennifer Holik

WWII Education – Where Can You Find WWII Education?

July 20, 2016 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

World War II Education comes in many forms. There are countless books written about every aspect of war, soldier’s experiences, battles, and high level histories. Museums like the National World War II Museum in New Orleans has an annual conference featuring specific periods of the war and provide high level discussion and analysis of the war. Universities offer courses on general military history, World War II, battles, and other higher level topics.

How often though, in the U.S. or Europe, do you see education addressing how to conduct research and put together the story of your soldier, sailor or Marine? I’m not talking about a unit’s history or the history of a battle in which your soldier fought. I’m talking about individual research, which most people get stuck on. I have found it rare, which is why I wrote the research books I published and created seven different lectures I give in the U.S. and Europe. Please contact me if you need a speaker for your organization in the U.S. or Europe. My current programs include:

The Day that Lived in Infamy: Navigating Basic World War II Records
Beyond Pearl Harbor: Exploring Advanced World War II Records
Finishing the Story: Recording the Military Story
Stories of the Lost: Remembering the Dead
Navigating World War II Records on Fold3.com
Writing the Stories of War
Stories of Our Past

If you know of someone teaching courses or giving programs on the soldier’s experience and the research process, I would love to know about them.

General World War II Education

The National Archives in the U.S. offers an annual Genealogy Fair. If you visit their website, you can see prior year’s offerings which include handouts and videos. These videos are an excellent resource to understand, in general, what the National Archives offers researchers. The videos do not often get down to specific WWII research, but offer a general review of the types of records and dates they cover, within the collection. I recommend watching them to learn more about the types of records available.

If you enjoy genealogical conferences and local society programs in the U.S., you may find a program on WWII research, though from what I have observed, it is rare to find anyone teaching what I am. If you are attending the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference which starts 31 August 2016, I will be giving two WWII talks and sitting at the vendor table for AncestorStuff at specific hours during the time the vendor hall is open, to answer questions. There will be a limited number of my books for sale and orders can be taken by AncestorStuff. Details coming soon as to when you can meet me at their table.

Education for Teachers and the General Public

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) has several collaborative programs with different organizations to provide teachers with World War II soldier research experience and trips to the battlefields and cemeteries. This program is ABMC Education. The teachers research a soldier, write a eulogy which they give at his or her grave overseas, and create lesson plans based on Common Core standards. These lesson plans are available for free online.

The ABMC website offers videos and other resources for anyone interested in the history of their overseas cemeteries and specific battles. They also offer educational resources for teachers.

Both of these resources combined will provide you with a different perspective on what information is available for soldiers for both WWI and WWII. I encourage you to explore what they have to offer.

Books To Guide Your Research

If you live in Europe and have adopted a soldier’s grave or his name on the Wall of the Missing, pick up my research book, Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier.

If you live in the U.S. and need assistance researching, check out my books, Volumes 1 and 2 of Stories from the World War II Battlefield, which are the only ones available which teach you step-by-step how to do WWII research.

Hire a Researcher

Need more assistance? Contact me to discuss a project. I am taking new clients at this time and there is no wait list.

WWII Education – The Research Process, Do’s and Don’ts

July 18, 2016 by Jennifer Holik 2 Comments

Conducting World War II research for several years, speaking with researchers and family members around the world, and observing what information others tell people, I’d like to provide a few pieces of information to help you in your journey to discover your soldier, sailor, or Marine’s service story. This article will briefly explain the Research Process, and some Myths and Traps researchers fall into.

An article can only cover so much. To learn more, please pick up a copy of one of my research books. I explain the process in-depth for all military branches, in over 700 pages in my two books, Stories from the World War II Battlefield.

The Research Process

World War II research has a process which I encourage people to follow. It is one I have used and honed to more easily navigate the military record spider web.

Two of the most important pieces of information you should locate are the Service/Serial Number and Unit of a soldier – down to the lowest level (Company in some cases) the soldier was in. This will help you navigate other records beyond their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF.)

Offline Research

Important! Most of the records you can use to research military service are not available online. However, there are online resources you can use to move research forward. There are some records, specifically the OMPF, which are not available online. Many company and unit level records, maps, photographs, and other documents are only available in paper format in a repository in the U.S.

World War II documents are not located solely in the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis or the National Archives in College Park. They exist at Presidential Libraries, University Libraries, museums, libraries, private collections, and institutions like the Army War College or Naval Heritage and History Command. This list is by no means the full list of available repositories in the U.S. You may also find records in overseas libraries, archives, and museums.

Online Research

Military research is often best begun after you have written down what you know, by searching for information online to add to the questionnaire. It also allows you to see what records do exist in digital format and what exists in paper format in various archives. Fold3.com has digitized many unit-level records from the National Archives in College Park, but it is small amount compared to what actually exists there.

Create a Timeline of Service

Everyone should create a timeline of service based on what you know about your soldier’s service history. A timeline should list the date (either full or a year) and the event which happened. Noting where you found that information, even if it was a family story, is important. A timeline of service may look like the following. Note, Adam Jones is a fictional name.

January 1942 – Adam Jones joins the 1^st Infantry Division
November 1942 – North Africa Campaign
July 1943 – Sicily Campaign
30 July 1943 – Wounded in the Sicily Campaign
February 1944 – Hospitalized in England
June 1944 – Normandy – D-Day Campaign

Start the Military Records Requests

Learn more about the military records you should be requesting when you start your research in this article, WWII Education – The Difference Between the OMPF and IDPF.

Write the Story

I encourage everyone to write the story of their soldier. Once written, please share it with your family, a military reunion association, museum, journal, or other means so the story is not lost.

Research Do’s and Don’ts

As I said, military research is a process. Every new document we find, or idea we use to locate information, shows us the best (and sometimes worst) ways to locate information and pieces it together. A few Do’s and Don’ts for you.

Don’t assume the one or two things you know about your soldier’s service is all there is to the story. Usually it is not.

Do look for all possible leads and records to piece together the timeline of service.

Don’t assume if your soldier died during the war and has an IDPF, that this file contains his entire story.

Do look into other available records because you are only seeing one moment in time for this soldier.

Don’t assume your soldier was only in one unit the entire war, especially if he was in for several years.

Do start with the unit and place and time you have for your soldier and work forward or backward as needed. If you look at the IDPF for my cousin James Privoznik, KIA on 11 January 1945 and buried in Luxembourg, it will tell you he was with the 358th Infantry Regiment 90th Infantry Division. Had I taken that one piece of information and looked for everything I could have on the 358th, I would have had the wrong story for James. Based on other documents, he was only in the infantry 14 days. Patton needed replacement riflemen during the Battle of the Bulge and pulled from the rear echelons. James was in the 790th Ordnance Company the other nine months he was overseas with the 90th Infantry Division. And Ordnance soldier has a different experience of the war than anyone else in his Division.

I’ve also heard people say they have one unit in one moment in time and are going to retrace their father’s steps through Europe based on that one piece of information. I encourage them to do their homework because again, it is very possible he was not with that unit the entire time.

Don’t forget to look up all acronyms and abbreviations for your military records or skip deciphering them.

Do check online or my WWII Toolbox on this website, for dictionaries to explain what you are looking at in the military records. Once you understand the lingo, the records make a lot more sense.

Don’t assume one reporter who wrote a newspaper article has your soldier’s entire story. I’ve had researchers overseas who adopted graves tell me they got the entire story from one newspaper article and a phone call to a reporter. Unless the family and reporter researched the soldier’s service, you do not have the entire story.

Do investigate other records and resources to learn more. Usually a reporter is looking for answers to a few questions to write a short article. As I stated earlier, an article can only contain so much information. There is always more to learn if you seek the information.

Books To Guide Your Research

If you live in Europe and have adopted a soldier’s grave or his name on the Wall of the Missing, pick up my research book, Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier.

Need more assistance? Contact us to discuss a project.

Want More Resources?

Visit the WWII Education Website and grab your military research worksheet pack. This pack comes with 14 pages of questions, checklists, and resources to help you start your military research (WWI – Vietnam).

Also explore my military research books.

WWII Education – Difference between the OMPF and IDPF

July 17, 2016 by Jennifer Holik 4 Comments

Working on graves registration records. Source Army Signal Corps.

I wrote an article about the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) which contained information on how to request it, what it contained, and how to share information with organizations who honor our war dead. Several people were confused about the difference between the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), also known as the military service file and the IDPF. This article will clarify what those files are, where they are located, what they contain, and how to obtain copies.

Difference between the two files:

OMPF: Created for every single service man or woman in every branch of the military.

IDPF: Created for only those who were unrecovered and still considered Missing In Action or those who died in the war.

Official Military Personnel File (OMPF)

What: Also known as the military service file, the OMPF is the record of a soldier’s service from enlistment and induction until discharge or death. Some files are quite lengthy if a soldier was in service for many years. Other files are short because the soldier was inducted during the war years and served a very short time, or was Killed In Action.

These files contain, but are not limited to the following:

Birth, marriage, and death certificates for the soldier, sailor, or Marine and sometimes members of his family. I have even seen adoption records in a file.
Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Merchant Marine OMPFs have photographs of the sailor or Marine taken upon after induction. These photographs are also found in the IDPF if the man or woman died in service or is still Missing In Action.
Next of kin information can be found through vital records, insurance papers, beneficiary papers and next of kin designation papers. This is great information if you are a grave adopter in Europe and are trying to locate living relatives.
Educational records and letters of recommendation.
Training information.
Medical and dental information.
Service information: Training places and dates; type of training received; scores for tests and training; dates of service overseas; medals and citations earned.
Death information if the soldier died while in service.
Often the files contain handwritten letters from family members, especially fi the soldier died in service.

Where: The OMPF is held at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. These files are available to anyone if a soldier died or was discharged on this date 62 years ago. So at the time of this article posting on my website, this means any OMPF for soldiers who died or were discharged by 17 July 1954, is available to anyone to request.

History and Confusion: There is a lot of confusion of the OMPF – does it exist or did it burn? In 1973 there was a devastating fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri. Approximately 80% of the Army, Air Corps/Army Air Forces/Air Force, and National Guard (under the authority of the Army during WWII) burned. Is that the end of the story? NO!

NPRC gets thousands of requests for OMPFs and other records every week. The facility holds records from WWI, WWII, Federal Employee Records, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and other records. The service files are not the only thing held there. Many researchers receive letters that say, “All the records burned.” Sometimes that really isn’t the case. I have copies of complete files and some files which are burned around the edges (or have mold or water damage.) Some files I have are partial and contain only bits of information.

Obtaining Records: If you work with a researcher, you have a much better chance of getting information out of NPRC. We are able to request and stay on top of whether or not there is a service file. My team is also able to ensure we at some point see a file that does exist. Case in point, last year my researcher at NPRC requested a Navy file for a client. NPRC found it, processed it and sent it to the wrong department in May. It was November before we saw the file and that is only because we stayed on top of the progress of locating it. Anyone who would have requested it by mail would never have received it most likely or it would have taken much longer than 7 months. NPRC also sometimes pulls the “right name but the wrong file.” This happened a couple years ago and my researcher caught the error and was able to save me hundreds of dollars in copy fees. We are also able to locate Morning Reports, Monthly Reports, Payroll, Air Force Award Cards and other records held there.

You do have the option to go to NPRC in person to conduct research. And you can send in Form 180 to request a copy of the OMPF. When you send this form in, the OMPF is the only thing they will sear€ch for you. Often you will pay $25 for a Final Payroll Record and a sheet that says the soldier served. This is a far cry from the available information there if you go there or work with a researcher.

Types of File Codes if the File was Affected by the Fire:

“P” File is a Final Payroll File. These are typically what NPRC charges you $25 for. You get the Final Payroll Record which has little information on it and usually a sheet stating the soldier served.

“B” Burned File. This file means the file is partially in existence and has damage. You never know exactly what remains until you see the file.

“R” Reconstructed File. This file means a few pieces of information were located to reconstruct enough information to prove service. If the soldier has an IDPF, often some of those papers come from this. I’ve also seen Final Payroll, and items family members sent to NPRC (newspaper articles, copies of letters, copies of the Separation and Discharge Papers, etc.)

Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF)

The IDPF is a file created for every soldier, sailor, or Marine who was listed as Missing In Action (MIA) and never recovered or who died in service. These files were never at the NPRC in St. Louis and therefore not part of the 1973 Fire of what was destroyed. These files are currently held by the Army Human Resources Command (AHRC) in Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

To learn more, please read the post about the IDPF to learn the specifics on this file.

Sharing Information:

There are many researchers seeking information on our deceased soldiers and many organizations and foundations which use the files to honor service men and women. One such foundation, the Stichting Verenigde Adoptanten Amerikaanse Oorlogsgraven (Foundation United Adopters American War Graves,) runs the Fields of Honor Database in the Netherlands. The Fields of Honor Database has a mission to compile information and photographs, in their free online database, for all those buried or listed on the Wall of the Missing at ABMC cemeteries in Margraten, Netherlands, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, and Ardennes, Belgium. You can help them accomplish this mission by contacting them and sharing your soldier’s information.

Books To Guide Your Research:

If you live in Europe and have adopted a soldier’s grave or his name on the Wall of the Missing, this foundation is also selling my research book, Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier.

If you live in the U.S. and need assistance researching, check out my books, Volumes 1 and 2 of Stories from the World War II Battlefield, which are the only ones available which teach you step-by-step how to do WWII research. Need more assistance? Contact me to discuss a project. I am taking new clients at this time and there is no wait list.

Also join our mailing list to receive information on new articles, classes, resources, and more.

Still confused or have questions? Please email info@wwiirwc.com to discuss a research project or writing project. We are taking new clients.

WWII Education – Requesting the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF)

July 16, 2016 by Jennifer Holik 13 Comments

IDPF Request image — Tarawa Marine still MIA, William F. Cowart. Photo from his IDPF and OMPF.

Information is current as of 21 October 2024.

One of the most important files a researcher needs if he or she is investigating the life and death of a soldier, sailor, or Marine who was Killed In Action or died in World War II, is the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF.)

Caution! I have heard from many overseas researchers that when they have the IDPF for their soldier they are researching or whose grave they have adopted, that they have the entire story. This is incorrect. The IDPF provides information on a soldier for one moment in time. It is usually never the entire story as many soldiers were in more units during their overseas service, than the one listed on the IDPF. Please investigate other records to learn the full story about your soldier.

What is the IDPF?

The IDPF is a collection of documents created when a soldier was declared Missing In Action and never recovered or died in the war. When I say a soldier died in the war, it could be he was Killed In Action, died as a POW, or died of wounds. Regardless of how he died, he died while serving. These files contain a wealth of information about a soldier, range from 20 pages to over 100, and include but not limited to the following information:

Location, time, date, and cause of death.
Location, time, date and place of temporary burial. Sometimes this is an isolated grave or unknown location until after the war.
Documents which detail burial, disinterment, final burial information.
Handwritten letters from family members.
Letters from the military, Congressmen, U.S. military organizations to the family.
Maps, search area testimony and documentation if the soldier was recovered from a crash site or not located immediately.
Dental and physical charts and information.
Stateside service training locations and dates.

Myth: Some researchers will tell you a soldier’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), also known as the service file, was included in the IDPF. This is incorrect. If your soldier’s file burned in 1973 you will not find a duplicate in his IDPF. Specific details from the OMPF may be included, but not always. It depends on the circumstances of the soldier’s death.

IDPF Access. The National Archives at St. Louis (same location as the NPRC) has the IDPFs for:

Request the IDPF

Hire us to have the IDPF pulled with other records available that NPRC will not search for you. We will provide analysis of the file and records obtained to reconstruct your service member’s history and suggested resources to pursue next.
Or, download Form 180 and select the box that says OTHER and write in IDPF and wait up to several months to receive the file.
Send NARA a letter stating you wish to have a copy of the IDPF under FOIA. State the individual’s name, branch of service, serial/service number, date of death, and birth date. If you have a common name then you might include a little more identifying information.

National Archives - St. Louis
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, MO 63138
314-801-0800

Can I help you with your research?

Are you ready to learn the bigger picture of your family member’s military service? Email us at info@wwiirwc.com to set up your free phone consultation today to discuss project options, fees, and time.

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Faces of War Now Being Sold by Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery

July 14, 2016 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

Exciting news! Another foundation in the Netherlands is now selling my book Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier.

Now you can purchase a copy and support the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten.

Book Description: The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) operates and maintains 25 permanent American military cemeteries overseas. In many of the countries in which these cemeteries are located, men and women officially and unofficially, through Adoption Foundation programs, adopt the graves of American service men and women in the ABMC cemeteries.

Researching the service and life of a soldier while living in Europe, has its challenges, primarily because the records they need are located in archives in the United States. There is also the challenge of the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The fire destroyed roughly 80% of the Army, Air Corps/Army Air Forces, and National Guard personnel files. This is not however, the end of the story where researchers are concerned.

All the tools researchers need to start exploring their World War I or World War II soldier, civilian, sailor, or Marine’s service, are included in this volume.

The tools include:

The basics of starting research and creating a timeline of service.
Resources and strategies for online and offline military research.
Resources for obtaining a wide range of information on a soldier’s death and burial.
Instructions for ordering and using military records to reconstruct service history for men and women.
And, tips for placing the soldier into historical context using higher level records.

Through examples, checklists, and document images, researchers are taught how to locate and analyze records for any branch of the military. This volume focuses more on World War II records, but the process for a World War I soldier and records created, are similar. Once you understand the research process, it can be applied to either war.

Can You Identify These WWII Photos?

July 13, 2016 by Jennifer Holik 3 Comments

I have a new client who has a few photographs we are seeking help identifying. His father wrote on the back of one that there was a story behind the bombed out building and that the cathedral (you can see the spire in one photo in the back) was the longest he’d ever seen. We are unsure where this is.

Do you recognize the building or area? Please leave a message in the comments.

Thank you for your help!

Upcoming Appearances – World War II Reunions

July 11, 2016 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

In August I have the pleasure at speaking at two World War II Reunions. First I will be in Fort Meyers, Florida at the Ninth Infantry Division Association Reunion. Two weeks later I’ll be in Alexandria, Virginia at the 80th Infantry Division Reunion.

Sunday, August 7

Ninth Infantry Division Association Reunion

I will be speaking at the Memorial Service and then presenting a WWII research workshop in the afternoon. This event will be held in Fort Meyers, FL.

The Day That Lived in Infamy. Navigating World War II Military Records

All the records burned! A fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, in 1973, destroyed approximately 80% of the Army, Air Corps, and National Guard records. This is not the end of the research possibilities for these soldiers. Many alternative record sources exist to reconstruct service history for these branches. Regardless of service branch, many records exist to tell your soldier, sailor, or Marine’s story. Learn how to research the records of World War II for any branch of the military in this informative program.

Friday, August 19

80th Division Blue Ridge Veterans Association Reunion

I will be doing record consultations and presenting during dinner and dessert one evening.

The Day That Lived in Infamy. Navigating World War II Military Records

Reunion details can be found on the 80th Infantry Division website.

Would you like me to speak or teach at your World War II reunion? Please contact me for details. I am booking through 2018.

McHenry County Genealogical Society Conference Saturday

July 6, 2016 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

This Saturday, 9 July, I will be presenting four World War II programs at the McHenry County Genealogical Society Conference. Hope to see you there!

The Day That Lived in Infamy. Navigating World War II Military Records

Navigating World War II Records on Fold3

Researching the service of a World War II soldier is more than the Official Military Personnel File we might locate. That file is helpful in creating a timeline of military service, but we must move beyond it to find more of the story. Looking beyond the individual records, we can find unit histories, battle reports, mission reports, war diaries, and other higher level materials, which provide context in which to put our soldier.

Many of the records you need to research your soldier’s service, are not online. However, Fold3.com has digitized many unit level records from the National Archives at College Park, MD, to help you with your research. As with any digitized collection, searching by your soldier’s name will not usually yield you enough of the materials available. There are many tips and tricks to locating the gold within the massive amount of paperwork available.

This new program, available Summer 2016, will teach you how to navigate the extensive records of Fold3.com. The tips you learn in this program will help you with any digitized record set.

Stories of the Lost

A continuation of “Finishing the Story,” we will explore the records available to tell the stories of those who died in service. We will also discuss those who took care of our Soldier Dead, the Graves Registration Service men. Learn about their job and the reasons it took so long to have our soldiers repatriated and what happened to the personal effects during the course of recovery and repatriation.

Beyond Pearl Harbor: Exploring Advanced World War II Records

The follow-up to The Day That Lived in Infamy. After briefly touching on the basics of getting started and obtaining the OMPF, attendees will learn about additional records to trace the service of their soldier, sailor, or Marine in World War II.

Memorial Day Weekend 2016 at Margraten, Netherlands

July 4, 2016 by Jennifer Holik 1 Comment

This year I spent Memorial Day weekend in Europe, specifically in Margraten in the Netherlands. The primary reason I was in Margraten was because my Dutch fiancé has a foundation, the U.S. Paratrooper Society, which lays a wreath at Margraten during the Memorial Day service. He asked me to be his wreath layer this year. Since we were going to Margraten and I was planning to release new World War II research books, it was also a good time to arrange a book signing. The book signing was one of two events that weekend where I promoted my new book, Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier.

Hotel Groot Welsden, photo courtesy of the hotel and Sutti Welsch.

Our weekend began at the Hotel Groot Welsden on Friday 27 May. I had previously arranged with the hotel to have a book signing on Sunday morning, 29 May, before we went to the cemetery. The entire staff at the hotel is fabulous. We couldn’t have asked for a better stay. There is a beautiful, calming garden behind the hotel, where we had a welcome drink and were able to relax….until the storms hit! Then we moved inside to the sitting area.

On Saturday 28 May, we visited Henri-Chapelle Cemetery in Belgium. I dropped off books for the Remember Museum. They have several of my research books for sale. Proceeds benefit the museum projects. While at the cemetery I had the pleasure of speaking with the Superintendent Bobby Bell about the goings-on there and donated a copy of my newest book on writing the stories of war.

Afterward, we had a bit of lunch in Gulpen and picked up flowers to take to Margraten, the Netherlands American Cemetery. My fiancé adopted two graves there. Charles D. Horn and Bernard Tom. I had not met Charles or Bernie on my previous trips to Margraten and it was nice to stop at their graves, lay flowers, and talk to them. Bernie has been around here, helping with research or writing from time to time. The weather was perfect and quite warm that day so after we finished visiting the graves, we returned to the hotel for a drink in the garden. It was a perfect day.

That evening we attended an event held by the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten, where I was going to give a short book presentation on Faces of War. The event was for grave adopters and families of American soldiers buried at Margraten. The evening consisted of a new documentary about the cemetery, folk music, some certificates being handed to families, and my book presentation.

The foundation asked for 10 books to sell that evening, which I provided. All 10 books were sold before the program ever began! People are very interested in the Netherlands to learn about the life of their adopted soldier. They are also interested in connecting with family members in the U.S.

After the presentation we returned to the hotel about 10:30 p.m. No one was in the bar or sitting area except the staff. The kitchen was closed but I asked if they had any dessert left because I was hungry. We had eaten dinner early to be able to attend the event. Luckily, there was still some pie left! Pie and coffee were a great way to end a successful book presentation and fantastic day.

On Sunday 29 May, I had my book signing at the hotel. Several members of the Foundation United Adopters American War Graves (Stichting Verenigde Adoptanten Amerikaanse Oorlogsgraven), who were selling my book Faces of War, attended the event with the books the were selling. I signed 30 copies of books and met several new people. If you purchase a book through the Foundation, it supports their Faces of Margraten Project and Fields of Honor Database project.

After the book signing, my fiancé and I went to a cafe in Margraten to meet his Band of Brothers re-enactment group for lunch before going to the cemetery. After lunch we went to the cemetery where it was lightly raining on and off. Thankfully the weather was not so terrible to cancel the service or make the attendees miserable.

Laying wreath — Laying the U.S. Paratrooper Society wreath at Margraten. Photo courtesy Andre Jans.

Laying the U.S. Paratrooper Society wreath at Margraten. Photo courtesy Andre Jans.

The Memorial Day service consisted of several speeches, an all-male choir singing, and the laying of many wreaths in honor of our war dead. Each of the wreath layers was escorted to the area designated for the wreaths by current U.S. military personnel. Military personnel placed the wreath with our help on the stand. A few moments of silence were allowed before we were escorted back to our seats.

I have been doing World War II research, primarily focused on those who died during the war, for several years. It is one thing to do research and be distanced from those who died, and another to be where they sleep. When I am near them, many more speak.

This day made my fourth visit to Margraten. Every visit has been special and left different impressions on me. If you read any of my Traveling in Their Footsteps articles from my trip to Europe last fall, you know I often hear the soldiers speak. When they speak, I listen.

After laying the wreath and returning to my seat, the soldiers began speaking. This trip to Europe in May and June 2016, was not what I originally planned. A lot of things changed in my personal and professional life between the time I scheduled my flight and the time I arrived. Just when I thought my life was going in one direction, everything shifted. Sitting there listening to the soldiers, I heard that my life was going to change dramatically. There is a lot for me to do for World War II education, research, and writing. And nothing was going to be what I thought it would.

It appears I am now off on a grand new adventure! Stay tuned to find out what happens.

WWII Education – CRASH ’40-’45 Museum Netherlands

June 6, 2016 by Jennifer Holik Leave a Comment

On Saturday, June 18, 2016 I will be presenting a program at the CRASH ’40-45 Museum in Aalsmeerderbrug, Netherlands. I hope to see you there!

Saturday, June 18, 13.00 (1:00 p.m.)

The Liberators. Reconstructing Army and Air Corps World War II Military Service

During 1944 and 1945, thousands of men and women serving in the U.S. Army and Army Air Forces, fought to defeat Germany and liberate Europe. Their stories are those of life and death, hope, friendship, love, memories of those left behind, and dreams of the future.

Many questions surround the service history of these men and women. How does one conduct research from Europe? What records are available and how can they be accessed? How can individuals connect with families of the fallen, the sweethearts, or who shared their homes during the war? And finally, how can we preserve their stories?

This program will be held at the CRASH ’40-45 Museum.

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